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Rudolph Can Join Fields, Lindsay as Only OSU QBs in Last 50 Years to Beat OU Twice

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In the last 50 years, Oklahoma State is 8-42 in Bedlam. Mason Rudolph can help make that 9-42 in 51 years on Saturday, and in doing so join a group of just two OSU quarterbacks in that span who have pulled off the seemingly impossible: Beating OU twice in a career.

Tony Lindsay did it in 1997 and 1998, beating the Sooners 30-7 and 41-26 in Norman and Stillwater respectively. Then Josh Fields did it again in 2001 and 2002, beating them 16-13 and 38-28 in Norman and Stillwater respectively.

Rudolph already has the first Fields win under his belt — winning as a freshman in Norman over a heavily-favored OU squad — and now he’ll look to pull off the latter — winning in Stillwater with much more on the line.

“It’s a rivalry game,” Rudolph said this week. “The fans talk and think about it all year and we do too, so we are excited about it and get another crack at it. It’ll be fun.”

It’s no surprise to anyone that QB play will likely determine the outcome of this game, but Oklahoma State hasn’t exactly gotten elite performances from its signal-callers in recent years. Here is a look at all the QB performances in Bedlam in the Gundy era.

Year Player % Yards TD INT Rating
2016 Mason Rudolph 44% 186 0 0 106.5
2015 J.W. Walsh 60% 325 2 1 135.5
2014 Mason Rudolph 54% 273 2 1 132.9
2013 Clint Chelf 54% 200 1 1 106.0
2012 Clint Chelf 51% 253 1 1 112.3
2011 Brandon Weeden 67% 217 0 0 117.3
2010 Brandon Weeden 65% 257 2 3 116.7
2009 Zac Robinson 43% 44 0 1 50.9
2008 Zac Robinson 65% 254 3 1 177.8
2007 Zac Robinson 40% 105 1 0 100.6
2006 Bobby Reid 67% 82 1 0 151.6
2006 Zac Robinson 47% 149 0 0 120.7
2005 Al Pena 37% 126 0 1 68.8

Incredibly J.W. Walsh is the only player who has thrown for 300+ yards against the Sooners, and that came in a blowout loss in 2015. I mean, this is astounding, right? For all the big-boy offenses Oklahoma State has had, only Walsh (?!) threw for more than 300 yards against an OU defense that hasn’t exactly been blowing people away.

Only Zac has thrown for 3 TD or more, and there have been more instances of QBs completing passes at a sub-60 percent rate than above it. If you think Gundy has a Bedlam problem, this is some good ammunition for you because if you watched these games, you know Gundy reined these guys in on some level.

The 2013 and 2016 games come to mind. Rudolph threw it downfield, what, twice last year? Chelf ran a vanilla plan in 2013 until the final drive when he unleashed a flurry of terror on the Sooners’ secondary.

Don’t expect any of this to change this year, either. OSU is going to run it 50 or 60 times on Saturday because OU is going to try and protect its secondary by doing what Texas did and loading up more bodies back there to defend The President.

Still, Rudolph will have his chances, and he may need to be nearly perfect to do what only Fields and Lindsay have pulled off in the last half century. One final crack at OU to become the first-ever OSU QB to hit 30 wins as a starter with two of those coming in this game. Is he the best to ever do it at OSU? I’m going to have to hold off on that — a Big 12 crown is a necessity, but this game could move him a little bit closer.

So who knows whether he’ll join Walsh as the only players in the Gundy era to throw for three bills against OU. But you can bet he’ll be ready to let it ride on Saturday in his last (?) game against Baker Mayfield.

“You have to stick to your routine, your preparation, and work your butt off during the week,” Rudolph said. “Just like Peyton (Manning) says at every single one of his camps, you feel like you’ve emptied the tank during the week and you’ve done everything you can and you have no regrets. You’re not going to feel that doubtful feeling when you strap it up and in the middle of the game.”

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